Stargazing
by Hatsu Yukiya
Summary: Lame-o title. Anyway, China is stuck watching little kid Asianations when he wants to do something, and they tag along. At the end, somehow everyone's getting along and China figures maybe he's not such a bad babysitter after all.


Babysitting really wasn't China's strong point. Okay, he had been alive for nearly four thousand years, so one should think he could handle a few kids. Nope. China was becoming increasingly stressed the longer it took for Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand to grow up and become mature nations. Also, he technically was their older brother, not babysitter, but the terminology was close enough. Jeez, why couldn't they have been easy to raise, like Japan? He had grown up with no problems at all! There had been absolutely no headaches involved, and China's back problems certainly hadn't made themselves known as often. Sometimes the older nation just had to get away and do things by himself.

This was what he'd been trying to do just now. China had wanted to watch a meteor shower that was going to occur when it got dark enough. However, he had been followed by Vietnam, who was complaining about Hong Kong's fire crackers, a bickering Taiwan and Thailand, and Korea who had ran after the group screaming about now wanting to be left behind. China kneaded his temple.

"Stop being so noisy, aru!" he snapped, fed up with it all. "Why do you need to come with me at all?" There was an immediate outbreak of noise, but Taiwan outdid herself by screaming "WE DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!" at the top of her lungs.

China sighed heavily, resigning himself to giving up his quiet evening. But, he decided, if he had to sacrifice, they did too. "Go gets blankets from the house, aru," he told them. "You can come with me, aru, but you have to listen and not complain." Confused, the smaller children scattered and within minutes were back with their arms loaded.

"Where are we going?" Vietnam asked quietly. "You'll see aru." "It's getting dark," Korea whined. China grit his teeth. "That's the idea, aru," he replied. "And I thought I told you not to complain." There was silence after that, which was rare. The loudest sound was Thailand trotting up next to China and latching onto his sleeve. However, the noise started anew as the path suddenly steeped upward.

"This is hard," Hong Kong muttered. The others agreed and China felt a throbbing begin to rise in his temple. "When are we going to st-o-o-o-p?" Taiwan complained. All the children kicked up a string of questions, and after a few minutes of it China said sharply "We're stopping here, aru!"

Everyone looked around. They were standing on top of a steep hill, high above China's house, away from the lights and with a clear view of the sky.

"So, why are we here again?" Thailand mumbled. China ignored him and said "Spread out your blankets and sit still, aru." "We aren't sleeping here, are we?" Vietnam asked worriedly. The older nation passed this off as well, and silently sat in a cross-legged position, his eyes trained on the heavens. The children did as he told them, but soon grew restless.

"I want to go home," Taiwan started. "It's cold." "I should have brought fireworks." "Shut up, Hong Kong!" Korea said loudly "Aniki, I want to leave!" All the bickering was suddenly cut off as China exclaimed "There!" and pointed towards the sky. A streak of light had rushed across leaving a greenish haze.

"Whoa!" Thailand exclaimed. The kids were captivated. As they watched, three more starts flashed across the sky. "Meteors, aru," China explained. "Aren't they pretty?"

He was wearing an almost peaceful expression, one the younger countries had rarely seen. "Aniki, that's so cool!" Korea said. "Why are they falling like that?" Vietnam asked, entranced. For the next few hours, everyone lay on their backs, watching the stars fall from the sky, as China explained the phenomenon and told stories about the beings who lived in heaven. At the end, when everything was all gathered up and they were heading back, everyone was talking excitedly rather than squabbling. And China really had to hand it to himself; normally he just dropped down at the kitchen table and buried his head in his arms as chaos reigned around him. He had even fallen asleep in that position once. But, and he thought this with a smile, maybe even he could get kids to get along. He didn't expect this to last, but China had truly enjoyed the time he spent with his younger siblings. Maybe they could do it again.

"So that's what happened, aru," China said later, on the phone with Japan. "You missed out."

"China-san , is that really all you called to tell me?"

"Yes."

There was a slight laughter on the other line. "I guess I did miss out," Japan said. "It sounded like fun."

"That's what you get for growing up, aru," China teased. Japan frowned, but he heard the humor in the other man's voice. China didn't usually get along with everyone; it was rare he was in such a good mood, and Japan said so.

"Yeah," China mused. "Maybe I'm not such a bad older brother after all."

**Short, badly written, I was bored. But is it cute? I just wanted a little family thing with the Asians who so very often get neglected in the fandom. Blah, blah whatever. I wrote it and now it's on the internet for the world to see. Please review and tell me how I did, though. Reviews are my fuel. They make me happy.**


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